Bennett thankful for his good fortune

Suffering lacerated liver early last season could have been much worse for Bears receiver

July 28, 2012|By Vaughn McClure, Chicago Tribune reporter

BOURBONNAIS — The pain was excruciating. The uncertainty surrounding what was causing it was even more agonizing.

As Earl Bennett rested in a New Orleans-area hospital bed last September, his football future flashed in front of him.

"It scared me for a second,'' Bennett said, "because I really didn't know what was going on inside me.''

Earlier that September afternoon, the Bears receiver had absorbed a punishing blow across the middle from Saints safety Roman Harper. Bennett returned to the game but then exited for a urine sample.

Blood was spotted. The pain intensified. Spasms occurred.

"That was it for me,'' he said.

Bennett had sustained a lacerated liver, an uncommon injury in the NFL. The Bears were cautious not to reveal too much detail, respecting Bennett's privacy. He was listed on the injury report as having a "chest'' problem for the five games his missed in 2011.

"It wasn't life-threatening,'' Bennett said, "but it was close.''

Now, as Bennett prepares in training camp at Olivet Nazarene University to play a crucial role for the Bears this season, he can't help but wonder how fortunate he was to escape serious harm. Every day in practice, he looks over to see fellow receiver Johnny Knox slowly recovering from spinal fusion surgery.

True, Bennett missed a handful of games, but at least he was back on his feet within a matter of weeks. The internal organ healed itself over a period of time.

No surgery. No shots.

"After two weeks, you got the soreness out,'' he said. "I felt like I was ready to go then. But I had some MRIs and some more testing and it wasn't healed all the way. We wanted to make sure it was completely healed before I put myself at risk for something a lot more dangerous.''

Amy Lu, chief of abdominal transplant patients at Loyola University Health System, said lacerations of the liver are common in car crashes, with the sudden thrusting impact of the torso slamming into the dashboard. Lu explained the life-threatening potential of the injury, considering the liver is a big organ that makes up 2 percent of the body's weight.

"Unlike skin, where you can put direct pressure on the cut that you have when you injure yourself, with the liver, you can't put any direct pressure on it because it is an internal organ,'' Lu said. "There's always the worry that you could bleed, so a liver laceration can be a fatal injury. Or it can be conservatively treated where you put someone on bed rest and try not to have them do any strenuous activities.''

The latter was the case for Bennett, who did not make the trip home to Chicago with his teammates after that game because he needed to rest comfortably. Those close to him were uncomfortable not knowing the details.

"My wife, she was nervous, panicking and crying because she was trying to find out where I was after the game, and I didn't have my phone on me,'' Bennett said. "It took me a while to get in contact with her. Fortunately, my sister came to the game and she came to the hospital and checked up on me."

Bennett's teammates and coaches were somewhat alarmed when they learned the details.

"When we found out what it could do to him, that was the most shocking thing,'' fellow receiver Devin Hester said. "But all we could do about it at the time was joke about it to build his confidence up — not putting him down, but just being playful so he could laugh.''

Receivers coach Darryl Drake echoed Hester's sentiments.

"I'm worried about it whenever a player gets hurt, no matter what it is,'' Drake said. "And it sets anybody back to miss five games. But those things happen. What you do is regroup, like Earl did.''

Bennett consulted two Chicago-area liver specialists in the days after the injury. He then was tested twice a week until he returned to action.

When Bennett stepped back on the field, he wore a custom-made rib pad for the final nine games. He caught 11 passes for 176 yards and a touchdown in his first two games back off the injury.

Some wondered if the hit Bennett absorbed from Harper had any tie to the bounty scandal, with Saints players allegedly being paid for vicious hits. Bennett doesn't subscribe to that theory.

"Honestly, I don't think about that,'' he said. "It's a part of football. It's what I signed up for. I know I put my body at risk when I'm playing this sport.''

A bulkier Bennett enters this season with no health concerns. He figures to be a reliable option for quarterback Jay Cutler as the Bears' top target out of the slot. The addition of three-time Pro Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall might provide even more opportunities for Bennett to make an impact. Plus, the Bears showed how much they value him when they signed him to a four-year, $18 million contract ($9 million guaranteed).

"All Earl has to do is what he's doing,'' Drake said. "He doesn't need to change anything. The thing that Earl is, he is the model of consistency. He does everything you ask him to do. And he does it the right way. He does it to the best of his ability.''